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O. TREGONING.

GAR BRAKE; No. 293.823.v Patented Feb. 19, 188-4.

f WITNESSES: a r INVENTOR: M. Q/M m U' ATTORNEYS.

N. Prrsns Phenol-handwr- Wm npm. u c.

CHARLES TREGONING, LEAD CITY, DAKOTA TERRITORY.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 293,823, dated February19, 1884:.

Application filed December 31, 1883. (No model.)

To aZ'Z whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OHARLEs TREGONING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lead City, in the county of Lawrence, Dakota Territory, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Gar-Brakes, of which thefollowing is a description. v

This invention relates to that class of carbrakes which are designed tobe applied by the act of slackening the speedof the engine. A brake uponthe cars which will be applied by the act of slackening the speed of theen gine, when the train is in motion, would also be applied by anattempt to back the engine.

The object of my invention is, first, to apply the brakes automaticallyto a train of cars when in motion by the actof slackening the speed ofthe engine; and, second, to automatically remove the brakes thus.applied when the engine exerts sufficient pressure to back the cars.

To this end my invention consists in the construction and combination ofparts formis attached to the connecting-rod E. This rod E is attached atone end to 'a lever-arm of the brakes, which are operated thereby tobind upon the wheels, as usual. The other end of rod E projects forwardof its point of attach ment to the chain D, and is formed into a hook,f, at its forward end,or rear end, if the brake in question is at therear end of the car.

At this point the characteristics of my invention begin. a k

F is a lever engaging the hook f, and pivoted upon a bolt, a, fixed inanother lever, G, which is pivoted upon a bolt, b, to the body of thecar. a i

H is the common draw-head of the car, providedv with a stiff spring, 0,which acts to thrust the draw-head forward to ease the cars from a shockin coming suddenly together. To this common draw-head, which may be thatof acar already in use, I attach a downward projection, I, having a holein it to carry the forward portion of my actuating-rod J,

which may reciprocate longitudinally therein p This rod J is provided atits outer end with a large bumper-head, d, and is set to project forwardof the draw-head to meet the head of a similar rod on the next car, andalong its body from its inner end it is screw-threaded for longitudinaladjustment in a stud, K, which is fixed to rotate slightly in lever F.This screw-rod may have 'a check-nut, e, to bind it, from jarring looseby impinging against stud K. c

L is a spring acting between an abutment, M, and the rod J, ofsufficient strength to push the rod J and the adjacent end of lever Fforward when they are free to be so moved, but not strong enough to holdout the rod J, so that the car might be backed thereby, and not near sostrong as the spring 0 of the drawhead.

N is a stud or bolt projecting from the drawhead to engage lever G byentering a hole brake, and as lever F engages hook f only at its rearside, said hook is free at all times'to be drawn forward by the usualhand-wheel, so that my automatic attachment does not prevent the use inthe old way of the same brakes to which it is applied. The engine-may beprovided with a bumper, to meet the head of rod J, on the forward end ofthe foremost car. In that case the operation of braking up a train is asfollows: The engineer slackens the speed of the engine, and if there isany momentum in the train which requires to be checked it pushes firstthe rod J of the forward car against the engine-bumper, thereby applyingthe forward brake and checking the speed of that car, so that the nextcar pushes in its own forward rod, J, and the rear rod of the forwardcar, thus checking itself and further checking the forward car, so eachsucceeding car is checked, and that in direct ratio to its momentum,which is exactly the object to be attained. If there were no suchbral'ze-bumper on the engine, or if there were cars in the train nothaving my automatic brake appliances, then the next car to the rear ineach case having my brakes would not be automatically braked; but thebrakes might be applied to them by hand, as in the old style.Nevertheless, in such mixed trains, wherever two cars having my brakeswere attached together, there my automatic brake would be applied bychecking the speed of the forward of the two cars, as before described.If it were necessary to check the speed of a train going down a grade,it is only necessary to slacken the speed of the engine, when each carwill apply its own brake just in proportion to the resistance offered bythe engine to its momentum. Thustheengine,insteadofhavingtoresist theactual momentum of the whole train with its load, has only to offersufficient resistance to push on the brakes and make the momentum ofeach car check itself. If it is desired to leave the cars with thebrakes on, it is only necessary to tighten and fasten the hand-brake tothe end ears after all the brakes have been automatically set. Then theengine may be detached, and the cars will remain with all the brakes seton, because the end cars prevent the rods J from pushing out; If thetrain were stopped on a grade, only the car at the foot of the trainwould have to be hand-braked to hold all the rest. If a train were tobreak loose from its engine and start downgrade, the rear guard, now atthe head of the train, by applying the brake on the car now foremost,will, by checking it, apply the automatic brakes to the whole train, andquickly have it under control. Thus my automatic brake is independent ofthe engine.

Now, suppose that the engine starts to back. First, the brakes will beapplied to the first car. Then, as the engine continues to back, therods J will be pushed in, so that the drawheads meet and are pushed in.The instant the draw-head begins to reccde it carries with it lever G,the pivot a, and the lever F thereon, thereby disengaging lever F fromhook f and releasing the brake, so that the same backing movement whichat first applies the brakes will, when continued, finally release them,leaving the train free to back. Then, when the engine slackens its speedin backing, the draw-heads, by their strong springs, will be at firstpushed out, reapplying the brakes, the rods J being already depressed,thus again stopping the train by checking the drivingpower. Then if theengine be reversed the cars will one after another he sufficientl yseparated to allow the rods J to project. Then the brakes will bereleased.

The advantages to be derived from thus placing the brakes of a wholetrain under con trol of the engineer or of one brakeman, and yet ofbeing able to automatically remove the brakes by the act of backing, aretoo evident to need amplifying.

There are different ways in which the levers F and G may be pivoted toaccomplish the same purpose, and it would be possible to do away withthe lever G entirely by placing the pivot-bolt a of lever F in an armrigidly secured to the draw-head.

The hook f might be substituted by a loop or other connection that wouldpermit the rod to move ahead of the lever F, and yet to be moved aheadthereby.

The buffer-rod J might as well be suspended from the car as from thedraw-head; but the buffer-rod heads should be central in the width ofthe cars, in order to meet each other.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a car-brake having a hooked rod or itsequivalent, forming part of the connection between the brake-lever andthe brake-operating handle, a drawhead, and a spring therefor, of abuffer-rod hung to project beyond the draw-head, and a lever or leversconnecting said buffer-rod with the aforesaid hooked rod, and having apivotal connection with the draw-head, substantially as shown anddescribed, whereby an inward movement oi the bnflerfrod will apply thebrake, and an inward movement of the drawhead will release the brake, asspecified.

2. The combination, with the hooked rod E. the draw-head H, having apivot, a, attached to it, and the spring 0, to force the draw-headoutward, of the lever G, having afixed pivot, b, and engaged by thepivot a, the lever F, pivoted to lever G, to engage the hooked rod E,the actuating-rod J, pivoted to leverF, and the spring L, substantiallyas and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with the draw-head and the spring 0, of thebrake-actuating rod J, connected by levers and pivots with saiddraw-head and with the car-brake, said rod J being provided with a screwthread, and a spring whereby the draw-head may be pushed out, and theactuating-rod may be still farther pushed out and may be adjustedrelatively to the draw-head, as shown and described.

CHARLES TREGONING.

\Vitnesses:

XVILLIAM S. ALLINSON, WILLLur J. Tnoims.

